Knowledge workers are forced to repeatedly disrupt daily workflows to gather information from this data sprawl — a time-consuming and inefficient activity that diminishes productivity. They need a single point of access to all data sources, available from any device, where they can share and manipulate the content resources required to do their jobs.

Consumerization and digital transformation have redefined the nature of work. Millennials, now the largest group in a highly dispersed workforce, rely on a combination of corporate and personal smart devices, mobile and cloud technologies, productivity and collaboration apps, and next-gen workspaces to do their jobs effectively — anytime and anywhere. These digital natives require flexible tools that enable them to instantly access and share documents on the go, facilitating and accelerating the critical business workflows that empower them to work smarter and faster.

Balancing Mobility, Productivity, and Security
The evolution of the brick-and-mortar corporate environment into an interconnected web of dynamic digital workspaces spread across countries and continents demands new ways to share information and ideas. Employees exchange files because document centric collaboration is a critical component of broader business processes designed to enable work teams to communicate on demand, add value, and maintain continuity. Document workflows drive and sustain productivity.

While facilitating the instant access that boosts productivity, organizations must remain focused on protecting sensitive data and intellectual property. In order to safeguard a company’s critical assets and comply with regulatory requirements and corporate security policies, IT must continuously monitor and control all user file-sharing activity. This mandate may conflict with the productivity priority, and security becomes more difficult to enforce when employees depend on consumer-grade public file-sharing services to mobilize data. Workers often bypass security controls to gain remote access to data and apps they need to do their jobs, but in doing so, they expose the organization to significant risks. Employee negligence, typically unintentional, is nevertheless the biggest cause of data breaches, and end users are the weakest link in the security chain.

This places corporate IT departments between a rock and a hard place. If IT blocks personal cloud file-sharing accounts without providing a sanctioned and user-friendly alternative, business productivity will suffer, but allowing the continued use of vulnerable tools is not a viable option. Savvy companies will deploy a single powerful enterprise file sync and sharing (EFSS) solution that expertly balances essential comprehensive security with the rich, seamless, consumer-like user experience today’s engaged employees expect and require to collaborate effectively and maximize productivity.

According to a recent Ponemon* survey, 72 percent of respondents agree an EFSS is important to reducing data security risks.

Secure content collaboration for the modern mobile workforce
Five Ways ShareFile Balances Mobility, Productivity, and Security

1. Secure File Sharing
Point. Click. Share. That's how simple it is for users to sync and share documents internally and externally on any device.

The ShareFile Plugin for Microsoft Outlook eliminates the size limitations and risk exposure associated with exchanging large files via email. Attachments are converted to links with expiration dates, simplifying and securing sharing activities inside and outside the organization. At the same time, IT maintains the visibility required to protect sensitive corporate data assets.

Information Rights Management (IRM): The authentication process follows the file itself, ensuring secure access to sensitive content only by intended recipients. Editing, printing, screen capture, and other activities can be restricted, even after the file is downloaded.

Giving employees access to this increasingly fragmented data landscape is a challenge because every data source requires that its own website or application be used to view the files stored there. ShareFile seamlessly connects to data everywhere, regardless of where it resides, delivering secure one-click access for mobile users. In addition, ShareFile is one of the few EFSS offerings that gives organizations the choice of where to store files, allowing selection of the option that best meets the company’s needs.

Features and Benefits:

ShareFile StorageZones: Choose where to store data. Manage it in on-premises datacenters, let Citrix manage it in the cloud with Azure or AWS, or adopt a hybrid approach.

Agility and Cost Savings: Continue to store and mobilize data in existing locations — no need to migrate content. Depend on a single solution to increase the speed and decrease the cost of connecting to data everywhere.

ShareFile consistently leads the way as the only enterprise-class file sync and share solution that can run on any cloud, on-premises, and hybrid IT infrastructure.

3. Document Workflows & Collaboration
Stop email chains and save storage by reducing the number of attachments. Gather feedback, approvals, and electronic signatures with a single solution.

Citrix understands that subscribers using ShareFile need a service that respects established workflows and is low-friction for the end user. Focusing on the customer experience is both a productivity and security consideration.

Christopher Kissel

Industry Analyst

Frost & Sullivan

4. Maximizing Microsoft Office 365 and Microsoft Cloud
Use ShareFile to view, edit and collaborate on files stored in SharePoint and OneDrive for business. You can also use the Outlook Plugin for secure, direct email access.

Microsoft is a leader in productivity and collaboration, as evidenced by the growing adoption of Office 365. ShareFile extends the value of Office 365, offering a more comprehensive solution for end-to-end mobility, maximum productivity, and robust security. Citrix designed ShareFile to complement and integrate with Microsoft technologies.

Features and Benefits:

Single Point of Access: Use ShareFile to access files in Office 365, Azure, SharePoint, and network shares from a single app. Get simple, secure sharing anytime, anywhere, on any device, inside and outside organizational boundaries.

Enhanced Workflows: Preview, edit, and co-author Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents online and in one place. Easily collaborate from any browser, computer, or mobile device.

Secure External Collaboration: Count on comprehensive authentication and authorization of external users, plus easy file sharing with recipients who are not part of your organization’s Active Directory service.

Virtualization: Use OneDrive for Business in virtual environments.

Compliance: Know what was shared, with whom, when, and from where with extensive audit trail and reporting capabilities.

Organizations often combine Microsoft OneDrive for Business for internal user productivity and a hybrid EFSS product like ShareFile for external collaboration

With more than one billion people using Microsoft Office — one in seven people on the planet — integration with Office Online offers ShareFile customers more flexibility in how they work with individuals and teams across businesses

Most file sync and share solutions are not designed for the unique storage and performance requirements of virtualized environments. ShareFile is developed with hosted desktops in mind, so you can use the same file sync and share solution across physical and virtual endpoints, and across on-premises and cloud storage locations.

Organizations can use XenMobile with ShareFile to extend security via device and application management, retain a single identity between ShareFile and XenMobile, and save to ShareFile from the XenMobile Secure Mail, Secure Notes, and Secure Forms apps. ShareFile and XenMobile are essential elements of a comprehensive business mobility strategy.

Features and Benefits:

Performance: Use Drive Mapper to present a virtual drive to users, reducing storage needs for synchronization and increasing network performance.

As a leader in virtualization and mobility, Citrix protects the world’s most sensitive information, simplifying and verifying the security and sharing of data in corporate apps and documents across locations, networks, and devices. Organizations can ensure the appropriate level of access for every individual and situation with visibility and control to address privacy, compliance, and risk management priorities without compromising end-user productivity.

More than 20 million business users and 80,000 customers rely on the robust collaboration capabilities delivered by ShareFile. Meet the mobility and collaboration needs of business users and the data security requirements of the business without interrupting critical daily workflows. Empower employees to work smarter, and help your business achieve agility and flexibility to capitalize on emerging opportunities and stay ahead of the competition. Mobilize data, streamline workflows, and enhance security with ShareFile.